This invention relates to a fastening system for use in attaching handgrips to items such as kitchenware or similar products. The systems known until now in this field include various mechanical procedures conceived to provide for the fastening of a handgrip to a container (pots, saucepans, frying pans, etc.) such as soldering and conventional fastening means, e.g. nuts and threaded studs. Soldering causes the rapid aging of the household item due to the breakage of the wall area where the soldering is made, or the rapid wearing out of the item due to the loosening of the fastening means.
There are fastening devices which are essentially comprised of a brace soldered onto the wall of the container and a handgrip in whose body is provided a cavity into which the brace penetrates. The handgrip is thus fastened onto the brace by means of a spring.
However, the link obtained between the handgrip and its brace in these systems is of a permanent type in which both parts are inseparably linked to each other. The result is a nondetachable fastening device whose useful life ends with that of the container itself onto which the handgrip is attached.
The invention is essentially a fastening brace carried by the exterior of a wall of a piece of cookware, and a handgrip intended to remain fastened thereto through the action of a specially designed spring which causes the final link between both parts.
The purpose of the invention is to make possible the link between the handgrip and the household item to be moved or transported manually or mechanically, without the use of any other supplementary fastening means, with the total elimination of looseness and of the possibility of the pulling apart or inadvertent detachment of the handgrip.
The connection between the brace and the handgrip takes place through longitudinal movement of those two parts in the direction toward the center of the piece of cookware whereby the handgrip is pushed over the brace. An interlocking spring causes the final fastening between the handgrip and the brace. The described constructional arrangement makes it possible to quickly assemble the handgrip to the piece of cookware, both manually as well as by robotized or otherwise automated systems.
A further purpose of the invention is to provide a means to detach the handgrip from engagement with the brace when there is a need to clean, repair or replace it.
The combination between both parts is not permanent. The body of the handgrip has boreholes which allow for the introduction of any sharp-pointed tool or jig through which pressure can be applied on the spring which, upon flexing, frees the handgrip, thus enabling the latter to be detached at will, for the purpose and effect described above.
The objects and advantages of the invention will be better understood upon a reading of the following specification read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.